Category: Testimonials

He is a highly respected senior member of the UK and international project management community. Whilst fulfilling a pivotal leadership role in the company he formed, Buro Four, he has had a highly distinguished career in the Association for Project Management (APM).

I am pleased to commend Tom to any one who needs a superb speaker on a project management theme, a very wise and experienced consultant or even a friendly and supportive shoulder to lean on.

We have engaged Tom Taylor both as a trainer and as a mentor in the past. Last year we ran a two day course of workshops on Architects as Project Leaders with all senior staff, which he adapted, to our needs and circumstances. He involved all the delegates individually and collectively; he was practical and made a potentially difficult subject interesting and even fun.

Besides delivering fully on our expectations we found this a very cost-effective method of training.

We have used Tom Taylor as a chairman for a number of conferences with multiple speakers, seminar sessions and panel discussions at prestigious venues in Manchester and London for one day conferences with delegate numbers in excess of three hundred.

Tom is an effective chairman and popular with the event organisers, with the speakers, with sponsors, with exhibitors and with the delegates.

He makes the events enjoyable, keeps everyone to time – more or less, and gets positive feedback every time.

I am David Prichard and I am a director of Metropolitan Workshop LLP, a medium sized, London based architecture and urban design practice with a range of projects in the UK and abroad. I was a partner in MacCormac Jamieson Prichard Architects (MJP) for 25 years before establishing Metropolitan Workshop with several colleagues from that practice.

We have worked with Tom for over 15 years in a number of roles. We first met over a challenging project in the last recession. His negotiating and management skills then helped steer a very complex project to successful conclusion with a contented client and buildings that won numerous design awards. (more…)

“As co-founder of Buro Four, now an acknowledged leader in project management consultancy, Tom has made a major impact on the sector over the last thirty years through his professional practice.

In recent years, Tom has proved his multi-tasking credentials by also serving as Chairman of the dynamic Association for Project Management; by extensive activity on the speaking circuit internationally and in the UK; and through publishing a well-reviewed series of project management titles which bring to life selected topic areas which other authors stifle in dry detail.

Add to that a keen sense of humour, an iconoclastic nature, a burning passion for his subject, a hatred of the mundane, and a fierce sense of responsibility that the project management community must urgently address sustainability, it is no wonder that Tom commands respect and affection from such a wide variety of stakeholders, all of whom can gain benefit from his unique blend of skills, experience and passion.”

I have known Tom Taylor in many guises over the past 30 years. Firstly as a colleague in the multidisciplinary firm of Arup Associates, where he managed a group of disparate and often maverick individuals towards a common aim; then as a bright entrepreneur setting up his own Project Management firm, Buro Four, at a time when project management was an altogether new idea in the design industry and, more recently, as an inspirational speaker and teacher, running a series of exceptionally well received training modules for my organisation, Colander.

Tom has always stood out from the crowd. He has a quirky line in wit and repartee that he uses with devastating effect to disarm and enthuse people – whatever their background or preconceptions – while ensuring that they really do understand what needs to be done. Combine this with the wisdom that he has accumulated over the years and he has an unerring ability to go straight to the nub of each challenge – without flannelling. He uses humour to bring people with him, without devaluing the subject in hand.

He is great at finding a common language with his audience and has a knack of defusing potential conflict that makes him a great mediator and an effective facilitator. He is reliable, conscientious and, most importantly, creative in the way that he tackles individual challenges.

These skills are special, and I suspect that they are easily transferable out of the construction industry, as he combines an extraordinary ability to make people laugh, while driving home a serious point, and so galvanise people into effective action. He is also a compelling speaker.

AUDE is the Association of University Directors of Estates, a higher education membership association. AUDE represents 155 Universities and higher education colleges in the United Kingdom via the Director of Estates, or equivalent, at each institution.

AUDE members have a significant portfolio of properties, a substantial annual capital spend and ongoing operational responsibilities. The Leadership Foundation provides training, consultancy, research and services to higher education institutions nationally and abroad.

Together AUDE and Leadership Foundation have been working with Tom Taylor to provide Project Management training and events.

For four years Tom provided a one day course on Project Management, run at up to seven University venues per annum, throughout the UK. Each year Tom would assemble a number of topical and stimulating modules for the courses which would be attended by 20 to 30 or more delegates from a cross section of universities.

In 2008 we undertook some research on the training needs and interests of our members and found that Project Management was the No.l topic. In collaboration with Tom we devised a three tier series of courses for beginners, experienced and senior people, which we are rolling out over 2008 and 2009. The courses are proving to be as popular as the previous series.

Tom is consistently proactive in helping to make staff development events fit for purpose and successful. His positive approach and enthusiasm make him a popular presenter and facilitator. We collect feedback from our delegates and Tom is consistently in the “very good” area overall. Invariably delegates give him high scores for effective leadership, addressing interests, helpful materials, good ideas and for designing and delivering courses with the right balance of participation.

Tom has also spoken at our annual conferences on “Frameworks for Consultants and Contractors” and on “Project Prioritisation in Estate Portfolios”.